Forever and Always
by alliegranger13
Summary: In which Riku has to give Sora a pep-talk in confessing his love for Kairi. Involves Sora being ridiculously oblivious and nervous and ranting incessantly and being uselessly jealous of a boy who is really unimportant to the plot. Fluff. Have fun. Oneshot. Pairing: Sokai


His blue eyes, which mirrored the ocean surrounding his island paradise, watched the girl with curiosity; his eyebrows pulled down in a concentrated frown as he desperately tried to memorize everything about her: the way her tank top hugged her gentle curves, the way her arms moved as she walked, the way the wind pushed her auburn hair off of her shoulders as she laughed with her friends. Unconsciously, he bit his lip as he watched her, infatuated by her beauty.

"Snap out of it, you weirdo," A deep voice cracked through the calm silence, a pale hand smacking him upside the head. "You're making me nauseous."

Sora flinched, rubbing his hand on the now sore part of his head. "Ow—what was that for?" He spat, a bit bitter to be pulled from his trance. He'd been having a good time.

"_That_," Breathed Riku, his silver-haired best friend, "Is for forcing me to come with you to the island, and then spending the entire time watching Kairi. What's _with_ you?"

A sigh erupted from Sora's throat, and he turned his gaze back to the pretty girl standing on the pier, surrounded by friends. She was incredible. Every guy in Destiny Islands wanted her—hell, even some girls did, too—and would do anything for her to even look at them. "She's messing me up."

Riku's eyebrows rose. "Messing you up?" He inquired.

The two sat on top of a little hut that rose high above the small little island; their feet dangled over the side of the wooden deck, the drop below them dangerous. To the right, over a small bay, was the main island; small houses decorated its shores, a cluster of people on its beach, playing in the salty water. This island—_their island—_was only really used by their small group of friends. They'd spent their time here as children, sword-fighting and playing around. Now, as older teens, they all lounged about here. It was a nice, a place to escape reality on the island.

Sora groaned, leaning against a post beside him; his cheeks smushed up against it, and his words were muffled when he spoke. "I can't think, I can't train, I can't do anything—she's all I can think about, and my stomach hurts and my heads all fuzzy…" He trailed off, realizing he was speaking far too quickly and blurting far too much. He huffed out an exasperated sigh.

Riku blinked. "Sounds like you've got it pretty bad."

"_It?_"

"Y'know," Riku mumbled, shrugging. His turquoise eyes dropped to the pier, far below them and lingering over the water. There, Kairi and a few other friends—Selphie, Wakka, Tidus and some lovestruck local boys—stood, chattering and laughing. "The whole _love_ thing."

Sora's cheeks flushed, but he didn't deny it; instead he smashed his face further into the wooden post, wrapping his arms around it and hugging his body to it. He closed his eyes, grimacing. "She doesn't even know I'm alive."

Riku made a face. "That's not true—she loves you. She'd choose you over any of those chumps any day."

"She loves me like a friend."

Riku knew this was true. When Kairi first washed up on the beaches of Destiny Islands, rumors spread like wildfire; she was adopted by the Mayor, taken in by them and cared for. And, _go figure_, Sora was the first person to befriend her. Riku wasn't exactly sure _why_, but Sora seemed to be perpetually friendly, a real charmer; as soon as he met Kairi, he'd been under her spell. And, when Sora introduced her to Riku, he was trapped under her charm as well. Kairi'd always had this odd sort of ownership over the both of them, like they were hers and no one elses. They were best friends, the three of them. Everyone knew that.

However, Riku was also acutely aware of a different sort of tension between Sora and Kairi. Being the oldest, he'd sort of taken on the leadership of the trio; it was only natural, really, and he'd always watched over his friends with peculiar interest, making sure they were always okay and always smiling. He'd noticed all the odd moments Kairi and Sora shared, the ones that had passed the bounds of friendship. Their looks, their grins, their bond was an entirely different level. Over the years, Riku had picked up on their romantic tension, and had often subtly given them alone time, giving some silly excuse to be elsewhere.

Riku watched the girl from their perch. She really _was_ beautiful. As they'd grown older, he'd sort of grown this protectiveness about her, one he felt obliged to have. She was beautiful, innocent, wonderful, and he'd always wanted to keep her safe. "Don't sell yourself short. You're important to her."

Sora's eyes snapped open. "Yeah—in a _friendly_ way!" Sora cried, sighing heavily. "She'd never think more of me than that."

Rikuu slapped the back of Sora's head.

"Ow!" The brown haired boy cried, holding his crown in pain. "Stop doing that!"

"Quit having such a depressing outlook," He growled. "Kairi will never want you if your grumpy."

Sora made a face in response.

"Besides—if you want her so bad, what are you doing up _here?_ She's down there."

Sora straightened up, swinging his feet as he spoke. "I can't talk to her—I'll just think of her even more, and…" He trailed off, blinking. "It's just hard to _not_ tell her how in love with her I am, okay?"

"So, tell her, then."

"Are you _stupid?_"

Riku blinked. "What's wrong with that? It's an easy solution."

"I'd rather take on a million heartless solo."

He looked over at his friend. "You've gotta risk it to get the biscuit."

"Yeah? Tell me that when _you're_ in love." Sora sighed, confused. It was like there was a battle going on inside of him: part of him wanted to die out of pain and embarrassment over this entire ordeal, but a bigger part of him wanted to live, just to see Kairi smile. His heart hurt.

Riku shrugged him off. "When _I'm_ in love, I won't be such a pansy about telling her."

"Oh, so you think you'll be brave enough to say it?" Sora laughed.

"I'll walk right up to her—_whoever she is_—and say, 'You're really cute and I like your face a lot,' and it'll be a done deal. No confusion, no whining, just getting down to business and telling her the truth. Easy." He peered at Sora. "Now, in _your_ case, things are a little different—you're not as manly or brave as I am. I can see the conflict."

Sora rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot."

"Really?" Riku spat sarcastically. "You're the one whose been crying about liking a girl for the past half hour, while she's down _there_, being flirted with by kids ballsy enough to actually _speak_ to her—and _I'm_ the idiot?"

Sora's stomach fell; he glanced down at the pier, watching a few boys—he'd seen them try and talk to Kairi at school a couple times—laugh with her, occasionally touching her elbow or shoulder as they talked. There was an intense burn in his chest, as if he'd been hit by a ball of fire; he ground his teeth together, jealousy and protectiveness washing over him.

Blue eyes a bit wild, he glanced back to Riku, unsure of what to do. Almost as if Riku could hear his best friends' thoughts, he set him on his path, instructing him.

"Go down there, take her away from those creeps, and then tell her."

With a single nod, Sora leapt up, running as fast as he could across the wooden deck; he jumped to the level below, not bothering to use the rope ladder. He jumped down another level, running across the raised part of the island, hopping over obstacles in order to get there as quickly as possible.

He had this crazy fear inside of him that made him think if he didn't get to her fast enough—as in, the next four seconds or so—she'd fall desperately in love with one of those other boys. He was confident enough in his own sexuality to admit that they were pretty good-looking—a hell of a lot better looking than him—and it sort of terrified him. What if Kairi liked one of them? The idea made his hands ball up into fists. He'd never been a very violent or aggressive guy, but this bothered him to enough to want to resort to it.

For a moment, he hesitated. Sure, he was desperately in love with Kairi and wanted her to be _his_ not those jocks from school, but she was his best friend. They'd grown up together, played together, watched the sunset together. She was important and smart, and if she loved one of them, what place was he in to hurt the guy? Kairi was her own person. He shouldn't have a say in that.

If she loved one of them, he wouldn't do anything harsh, he silently agreed. He'd just burn internally very silently.

He leapt over a washed up piece of drift-wood, running full force towards the crowd on the pier. Once he got there, he was huffing and puffing, red in the face; he leaned over, hands on his knees, as he tried to catch his breath.

Kairi's eyes were wide. "Sora, you okay?"

His words were weak, out of breath. "No," He muttered, peering up through his eyelashes to look at her. Man, she was pretty. "Not okay."

She blinked, surprised. "What's wrong?"

Sora pulled himself to a standing position. "I need to talk to you. _Alone_. Please." There was an odd desperation to his voice, one that the other boys in the group seemed to understand; they all piped up, trying to get Kairi to stay, in hopes of winning her affections. It was all a big competition, really.

"We were just going to go back to the main island, Kairi," One of the guys, Brad, spoke up, "Want to come? We're getting icecream." The other boys murmured in agreement.

Kairi met their eyes for a split second, but seemed too focused on Sora. "Maybe later," She mumbled, her blue eyes trained on the spiky-haired boy. "Sora, are you okay? You look…scared."

Brad narrowed his eyes. "C'mon Kairi," He urged, not taking no for an answer; he reached out and grabbed her wrist gently, hoping to sway her to come. "It'll be fun. We can see a movie after."

Sora made a face, glaring at the boy. "Stuff it, Brad."

Brad growled out a response. "_Save it,_ spiky."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Wanna say that to my keyblade?"

"_Screw_ your keyblade," Brad shot back.

Kairi spoke up, stepping in between the two. "_Boys!_" She snapped, a confused frown on her face. She turned to look at Brad. "Brad, I'll see you later. _Sora_," She turned to glance at him, "We need to talk. Let's go." Her voice was rough, unhappy.

Kairi reached out and took Sora's hand, leading him away from the pier; she tugged him away, towards the secret place, a little cave they'd discovered when they were children. Sora glanced back, blue eyes taunting Brad, squeezing Kairi's hand in response. Brad glared.

They both ducked into the cave; Kairi lead him further in to where the roof opened up enough for them to stand. The walls were covered in white sketches and drawings from their childhood; they'd drawn them with the stones laying amongst the dirt on the ground. This place was important to them both; it was theirs, their little hideout in their sanctuary.

Kairi dropped his hand, spinning to glare up at him. "What was _that?_" She snapped, blue eyes frowning up at him intently.

Sora's eyebrows lifted. "What?"

"With Brad," She pressed sternly. "And the fighting. Why were you so rude to him?"

"He was rude to _me_!"

She rolled her eyes. "He was just inviting me to icecream. You didn't have to be such a jerk."

Sora's eyes drifted past her for a split moment, landing on a drawing towards the back of the cave; it was one he remembered dearly, one that he'd added onto when he'd missed her. Oddly enough, the drawing was different, now; it depicted both Sora and Kairi, each sharing a paupu fruit. She must have drawn the other half—she must have seen. The entire thing made Sora focus on why he _really_ wanted to talk to her, rather than just argue about Brad.

"Kairi…" He trailed off, his voice sort of catching in his throat. His face had warped into an expression of incredible seriousness, no longer playful like usual. Kairi noted this change, her eyes looking up to him with a hint of concern.

"Are you alright?" She asked, voice light and twinkly and perfect.

"No—not okay. Very far from okay."

That seemed to really bother her. "What's wrong?" Kairi asked, not understanding. "What can I do?"

"Just…just listen, okay?" He mumbled, beginning to blush. He didn't meet her eyes. "I'm going to tell you something—don't interrupt, alright?"

She didn't seem convinced.

"Promise me," Sora pressed.

Kairi swallowed. "I promise. Sora, why—"

"_Don't interrupt_," He huffed out, laughing a little. She really couldn't follow directions for shit. "Alright. Well, the thing is…Brad's a real dick, okay? Seriously. He wears women's deodorant and re-gels his hair after gym class. He's a douchebag. Trust me."

"Sora—"

"_You promised,_" he reminded her, then continued. "Please, _please_, don't go get icecream with Brad or go to the movies with him tonight, because he's just terrible, and you should go with me, and I can't stand the idea of you ever being alone with him or him trying to kiss you or something, because that's what he's trying to do. He's trying to get with you, _do_ things with you—but not for good reasons. He's just…just don't do it, okay? Brad is bad."

Kairi peered up at Sora, blue eyes wide. She didn't say a word.

Sora looked down at her, his expression twisted up into a frown as he awaited her response. He blinked twice. "You don't like him, do you? Oh, _man_…" He groaned, taking a step back, and closing his eyes in anger.

"Sora! Relax," Kairi said, laughing under her breath. She stepped forwards, her hands catching his arms, bringing them down to his sides. "You _told_ me not to interrupt, remember?"

"Oh. Right." He blushed. "Okay—anyways, where I'm going with this is, just don't date Brad, okay? Because it'll kill me if you do, because you're the best, Kairi, and I can't handle the idea of him _touching you_…" He trailed off, eyes closing in fury at the idea.

"Sora, I don't like Brad."

His eyes snapped open. "You don't?"

She laughed. "No."

Sora let out a heavy breath of relief. "_Good_," He huffed out.

A small smile played on the edges of her lips. "What's your deal with Brad, anyways?"

He shrugged. "He's just not good for you."

Kairi's eyes searched Sora's face, quietly observing him; after a few moments, she shook her head. "Sora, what's _really _bothering you?"

Amazing how she could see through him so easily.

Sora's head dropped, and his eyes seemed to be permanently stuck on his shoes. Internally, he was frantically trying to gather enough confidence to blurt out the few words that he needed to: _I love you, Kairi. Forever and always. I promise._ His words seemed caught in his throat, jammed too far down to ever make their way up. His face was hot and red. His heart pounded against his ribs.

Sora closed his eyes, blurting out the first few words that came to his mind. "You're really cute, and I like your face a lot." Immediately, he felt his entire being—mind, body and soul—cringe. Why the _hell_ did he take _Riku's_ line to confess love? Riku was the furthest from being in love! This was a terrible, terrible mistak—

Kairi's warm, tinkly giggle echoed through the cave. "You _what?_"

Sora's eyes flashed open, and he slowly raised his head to meet her gaze. "I, um—okay, _look_, Kairi. I love you, I have ever since I met you. You're my best friend, the best person ever, and whenever you laugh or smile or even _look_ at me my heart gets all fuzzy, and lately its been getting so bad that I can't even think anymore and it's sort of annoying, so—"

Kairi stepped forwards, her body now close to Sora's; her hand came up and caught his cheek, forcing him to look her in the eyes. Her lips were spread into a grin. "You're blushing."

He was lost in her eyes. "I love you," He murmured softly, voice weak, completely entranced by her.

"I love you too, you goofball," Kairi laughed, cheeks a bit pink.

"You _do?_"

Kairi reached down and intertwined her free hand with his. "Yup," She confessed, her blush growing. "I've been _waiting_."

Sora's heart felt even fuzzier than usual; every single part of him felt liquid, like he wasn't in control of his limbs anymore.

She pushed herself up onto her tiptoes, pressing her lips softly against his; he leaning his forehead against hers, his hands snaking around her waist. As she pulled away, she whispered, "I want you."

Sora grinned. "You can have me."


End file.
